The present invention relates generally to the decontamination art. It finds particular application in the sterilizing and disinfecting apparatus typically employed with medical, dental, veterinary, mortuary, and laboratory instruments and equipment and will be described with particular reference thereto. It will be appreciated, however, that the invention may be applicable to a wide variety of apparatus used in sanitary environments.
Medical, dental, surgical, veterinary, and laboratory equipment and instruments are often sterilized by steam and/or reagent treatments. More particularly, an apparatus is provided which isolates the equipment and instruments in these respective environments for a sufficient period of time to complete decontamination. The steam autoclave devices of the type described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,193,818; 4,226,642; and 4,601,300 and the reagent sterilization devices as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,731,222; 5,037,623; and 5,391,360 represent decontamination apparatus with which the present invention is particularly suited. Each of these patents is herein incorporated by reference.
Often, decontamination apparatus are provided with a primary, frequently used control panel and a secondary, infrequently used control panel, each allowing an operator to input information to a microprocessor based control. In addition, decontamination apparatus often include a paper printout of sterilization parameters to allow a permanent record or receipt for each sterilization procedure to be printed. To provide easy access to the control panels, a printer paper roll and the printer itself, these elements are located on the exterior of the decontamination apparatus. Although the primary control panel is often left exposed for easy access, the other elements are preferably covered by a door to prevent unintentional contact and/or damage.
Historically, a conventional hinge has been used to allow the door to be manually opened. To allow the door to open adequately, the hinge has been positioned on an outer wall of the decontamination apparatus. Moreover, to obtain 180.degree. of rotation of the door, the pivot axis provided by the hinge was outside the plane of the apparatus' outer wall. This is aesthetically undesirable and has often led to the use of small, less visible hinges that possess an inherently low strength. Furthermore, these exposed hinges and their attachments are prone to being damaged and have proven difficult to clean because most surfaces of the hinge are not readily accessible.
The present invention contemplates a new and improved door assembly which overcomes the above-referenced problems and others.